Washington Photologue II

Today, for the first time in over a week, it was sunny and calm. I was in such a good mood due to the pleasant weather that I cooked turkey enchiladas for the family. I also did a 20 minute hilly route run, followed by a 3 mile hilly walk/climb with my aunt. I wanted to take advantage of the gorgeous sun, because who knows what the weather will be like tomorrow.

I forced myself to run in the windy cold yesterday. It wasn't raining, sleeting, nor snowing, but it wasn't pleasant weather at all. Steve ran with me along a scenic road that overlooks the valley at sunset. It was great to run downhill for the first leg of the run, but the uphill jaunt with a strong crosswind made the return trip very tough. Steve kept telling me to run each and every hill, but I took a couple of short walk breaks. This Florida girl isn't used to the steep hills. The locals call the mountains "hills" which is quite an understatement. But, I'll take the burning workout in stride as I prep for the race that will burn a lot more for a lot longer.

We watched The Nativity Story in the theater as a family . . . taking up more than a whole row. We enjoyed the movie: great acting from mostly little known actors, except for 2002 best actress nominee Keisha Castle-Hughes who played Mary. There was definitely some story-telling liberty that got thrown in the mix to flesh out some details, but overall, it was excellent and captivating with fantastic desert and Mediterranean footage. Finally, Hollywood got some things right and didn't make the angels female. The soundtrack features several Christmas hymns and carols set as background music. It's a beautiful movie for the holiday season. So, check it out!

And now, more fun photos from Christmas in Washington:

Family tradition is that whomever receives the gift with the nativity scene reads the story of Jesus' birth from Luke 2. I knew that Steve would be dubbed the gospel narrator this year, since he's the one in seminary. Bill got a couple of pairs of snowshoes . . . for all 4 feet. I got the warmest and cutest new bathrobe!
Abe & Lily zonked out waiting to unwrap gifts. Abe got a t-shirt that said "Dogfather" as a play on the Godfather movie poster. He is Italian, afterall.

Bill got Heather & Lily some appropriate signage.
Bill tortures Blazer with a reindeer costume. Keeping Lily snuggly warm.